Guru Brad Baxter with Carpenter Realtors

Rick Ripma: 0:00

Welcome to Indy's Real Estate Gurus. We are recording today from the beautiful studio right here and advisors at advisors Mortgage Group and beautiful downtown Carmel. And I'm recruitment you're hardworking mortgage guy I've been in the mortgage business and and the real estate business for 34 years I've helped over 5200 folks get the very best mortgage they could we believe that in the in the custom tailored approach, not the one size fits all mortgage, which you'll find that a lot of places. And we also believe that there is a right mortgage for you, and we are the team to deliver it.

Ian Arnold: 0:38

And I'm Ian Arnold part Rick's hard work and mortgage team. I've been in the financial industry for over 15 years, helping people do their credit, rebuild their credit, or even move their credit wool higher just to get the better interest rates. And I have a passion and helping you secure your financial wealth for the future for you, your kids and your whole family.

Rick Ripma: 1:01

Yep, and if you have any questions on anything real estate related here in Indiana or mortgage related, go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com or 31767 to 1938. That's 31767 to 1938. And I would be more than happy to answer your questions. And now we're going to talk with one of the main huge guru here in Indiana. Brad Baxter,

Brad Baxter: 1:28

and that is with with carpenter railroaders.

Rick Ripma: 1:31

Thanks for joining us, Brad. We

Brad Baxter: 1:32

appreciate it for having me.

Rick Ripma: 1:34

And it sounds like Brad was, you know, he was going to be on this huge panel and everything else. But he chose to be right here with us

Brad Baxter: 1:39

the best place to be.

Ian Arnold: 1:42

I want to give record Goldstar he's probably you're probably the first one maybe first couple that he said the name correctly.

Brad Baxter: 1:49

Nice. It's easy enough?

Rick Ripma: 1:50

Well, yeah, usually I mispronounce my own name. That's just how it is. I don't know why. You know, it's weird, because it's sometimes it's very easy names. And I know the name, but then I got to do it. And I write what happens. But anyway. So how did you get into real estate? What What drove you into this industry?

Brad Baxter: 2:09

Well, I'm a son of a broker. So my mom had a real estate license. That's not really why I got into the business. But I was in the corporate world. I graduated from Indiana University in 88. And didn't even know what I was going to do. But I took a sales role. And so I've been in sales my whole career. But as I rose the ranks of the corporate world, I was traveling all the time. So I was on a plane every week, three or four nights a week out of town. And we started to have kids and realize that I didn't want to be the dad that was always gone. And by the time the kids were 2030, they didn't know me. And so I stopped into a real estate brokers office one day, for lunch, or during lunch. And I said, Hey, tell me about the day in the life of a real estate broker. And I have a very, very, very supportive life. So I went home told her that I am going to quit my corporate job, I was a pretty high level manager at the time, making a good salary. And I took the accelerated real estate course in two weeks and went straight commission sent her back to work for health insurance benefits.

Rick Ripma: 3:20

And so how did you get going? Because I know when you make that transition transition, and you had obviously some motivation you needed to get going right away. Right? How did you how did you get your business going? Right away?

Brad Baxter: 3:32

Yeah. So this was in 2004. And honestly, I think if I, if it didn't happen the way it did, I probably had that safety net behind me. I can't I was selling software work for a pretty big software company at the time. And I was well recruited in that industry. So yes, I knew I had a safety net that, you know, if if this didn't work out, I could jump back. But I also recruit a lot of people into the business and I'm like, Look, I'm not telling you this from the outside. I actually did it I jumped in feet first in the deep end, and it was either going to work or it wasn't. So being that I you know, quit my corporate job. And this was straight commission. Yeah, I went in every day like it was a job. And I wanted it to work. So then I was only I started with a local brokerage for about a year and a half and then I bought my own brokerage with two business partners in November of 2006. That was a 10 year commitment to this franchise agreement and the market as you know, crashed in 2000 789. And I was like, What did I do? But at that point, I was invested I'm not a quitter, I was determined that regardless of the market, I was going to make this work. So I did that for 10 years and then sold my franchise to the carpenter builders where I am now

Rick Ripma: 4:52

okay so so when you you had you hit that that market we all remember that market Yep. Right. And and Everything kind of went away, but you still had to stay afloat. So how did you get business during that time? What did you do?

Brad Baxter: 5:06

Yeah, I think for those of us that have been around in multiple types of markets, just like the fear that people have right now with this changing market, right, you know, control the things you can control, but understand, we can't control everything and let go of those that you can't and change and adapt with whatever's happening. So I remember back then when, you know, everyone was like, okay, the short sales started coming into play, and I was like, Okay, I'm not going to do a short sale, I'm gonna pass it on to somebody else, let them do it. Well, then, all my clients, you know, not all my clients, but all categories of the market, were there were short sales. So I eventually became a short sale certified specialist. Not because I wanted to, but because I was adapting to what people needed in the market. And if somebody was losing their house at the time, what I learned really quick, because coming from the corporate world, I didn't realize how emotional this business is, right? And I didn't realize how much of a counselor or a consultant or a therapist we are in this position. And that's what I love about this career. And so I was helping people in a very, very difficult situation, they didn't want to tell anybody that they were in this situation, let alone me as a real estate broker. But if I could help them sell their house and understand that I wasn't there to judge them, I was there to help them. Then I was the one I wanted them to be there to do that. And that's very rewarding in this role to help people through big life events.

Rick Ripma: 6:34

Yeah. And you know, people have to understand that life happens now. And we understand that because we see it every day. Right? And, and it's just, it's just what happens. And back then, it was, it was what happened in our economy that created all that it wasn't that these weren't bad people or anything else. But you get transferred somewhere just as an example, you get transferred up by a house, and then your job goes away, or you get transferred again, and your house is worth $50,000, less than more than what you owe on it. What do you do?

Brad Baxter: 7:07

Find some of the trust to help you through the process.

Rick Ripma: 7:09

Right? Yeah, you got to get a good agent who can who can work with both sides, because that's the other prop the short sales can go very smoothly. Or they can take I've had some of them take two, three years when you're trying to finance them. And it's all on how that I think the lender the bank that is foreclosing how they work. Is that what you found?

Brad Baxter: 7:31

Oh, yeah, I mean, you learn the process. As we went through it and understood how to send over cash. Were we faxing documents back then? I think we were en doesn't remember that. But yeah, we were, like, literally had to fax 70 pages numbered, and you know, each bank were different. But yeah, and you had to be patient and wait through the process.

Ian Arnold: 7:50

So what was the difference between that and what we just went through, like two years ago,

Brad Baxter: 7:57

two years ago, when COVID hit and the market went crazy. Yeah. You know, each market, that's what I tell people, you know, like, don't stress that the markets changing. Just figure out how you're going to change with the market. Right? So when we, you know, everyone said, Oh, my gosh, we're going in isolation, everything's closing down. And people were saying, Hey, can I see this house today? I'm like, why? So you know, we put on our rubber gloves and our mask and our hazmat suit and don't touch anything. And you know, we'll go look and yeah, it was a crazy market. Right? We the, the the main thing you had to do, you had to be available. It'd be available when the world wasn't really available. And it was weird seeing a lot of my friends go through, you know, with different careers, have some major challenges during that time, and I was like, she real estate's booming right now. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 8:47

Yeah, it was. Yeah. And it was Do you remember the closings?

Brad Baxter: 8:51

Oh, yeah. It's in their car. Yeah. Yeah. You can't come in. And yeah, it was crazy. But we sold a lot of houses. Yes. Yeah.

Ian Arnold: 8:59

What was the almost exact opposite. When you're talking? We got into short sells, and houses depreciated. And you had to go through all that. But then now people are offering you like 10s and $50,000. over asking price for a home. Right? It's like, what says I'd be a big pendulum swing. Yeah. And what you're used to?

Brad Baxter: 9:19

Yeah, yeah, it's crazy in this market where, you know, used to the Indian, I was born and raised in Indianapolis. So I know this market pretty well. But, you know, we would average three to 5% equity over each year, and this last couple of years, and I sold some people a house twice. So they'd buy a house and then within the same 12 month period, I'd sell that house and give them another one. And the equity they were making in months was crazy, just not something we were used to in this market. But again, I think that's the value of a real estate broker that's on top of the market and active in the market. And the benefit of doing a lot of transactions is you get a lot of experience with that. So then you can say, hey, Here's what this means here's what's going. The interest rates are 7% Don't worry about that. There's ways you know, this will all work itself out, right? You'll refi Guess who will refi you in a couple months or a year? Rick and Ian, right? Right. That's right. Don't worry about it, we'll take care of the rate. But get the house you want be, say be careful, don't overpay too bad. And, and don't write in contingencies that don't make sense for you. Right. But this will work itself out.

Rick Ripma: 10:29

Yeah, I think this is the one of the best times we've had to buy a house in the recent history. And here's why I think that mortgage rates are going are going to go back down my opinion, okay, if I'm wrong, then I may be wrong about this whole thing, but mortgage rates are likely to go, in my opinion back down. We have a lack of inventory. We had a lack of inventory before when interest rates were low. People were paying 1000s and 1000s of dollars more than the person wanted for their house, more than they listed it for they were fighting 10 1215 offers. I had people who and you probably had more than this, because I didn't see as many as you did. But you'd see people, you know, make offers on 1012 homes and not get them. Right very depressed. Okay, well, the lack of inventory isn't going to change, right? As rates go back down. All those people who got out of the market are going to come back in and we're going to be in the same, maybe not as as much of a buyer's market or a seller's market as we were, but I think we're going to be getting close. So I think, like you were saying, Get, okay, so the rates higher than it was take the rate. Right. Okay. Because if I'm wrong, and rates go up, you got a great rate. If I'm right rates go down you refinance. Right. But you got the house at a better value. Right.

Brad Baxter: 11:51

Mary the house, they the rate exactly rain right now? Yes. But absolutely true. Yeah. Yeah. I don't see the buyers and buyers adapt, as we know. And that's the great thing about it, right. So for a while the brakes were put on early in the year, because interest rates were climbing. Today, a lot of my buyers don't really say much about the rate. And you guys see this right when you quote, right? They're saying, Well, how much can I afford at that rate? Yeah. And then we maybe adjust on that side of it. But yeah, half the cost, they need to have the confidence and that comes from the real estate brokers and the mortgage lenders to say you're okay, in doing this. You're not crazy for buying a house right now. Let's just find you the right one with best terms.

Ian Arnold: 12:30

Right, Brad, before we go to break, how would somebody get ahold of you?

Brad Baxter: 12:34

My mobile number is 317-501-3202. And my web address is Brad baxter.com. Well, that's

Ian Arnold: 12:43

pretty nice and easy.

Brad Baxter: 12:44

I tried to make it easy.

Rick Ripma: 12:45

Baxter's VA x, t e r t r Alright, so Brad Baxter. yep.com. That's right. That's not That's not I'm surprised that was still available. I would guess that's

Brad Baxter: 12:56

there was a New York Jets player. So he pulled up in the beginning but 20 years in the business I a lot of stuff will pull up for me. Yeah, that's all right. Yeah. Right.

Rick Ripma: 13:05

Yeah. Was he a good player? Yeah, us? In would know, I would know. And if you need to get a hold of Ian or I, it's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com or 317-672-1938. That's 31767 to 1938.

Ian Arnold: 13:21

All right. After the break, we'll find out what is Brad superpower. All right, welcome back from the break. And before we get into what is Brad's superpower, it is time for question of the week. The question of the week is sponsored by Hey, Rick and I the hard working mortgage guys, where we believe in helping and supporting you and your realtor and by sending constant updates on your loan through the whole entire process. Contact us today at HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. So, Brad, here's the hardest question. Okay, what was your first car? Oh

Brad Baxter: 13:56

1974 And is dating right as dates ourselves, but 1974 Mustang Mach 2302 V eight. What was my parents Lincoln? Yeah, so I was obviously blessed with the fact that I have two older sisters. And somehow this car was passed down, man, I was like 16 and got that so I was like, Whoa, that car survived three kids. Yeah, it got stolen once thankfully the cops found it so I had it when I was 16 But I love that car. I bet you'd like that one back. That would be fun. Yeah, yeah,

Rick Ripma: 14:30

there's always cars you want back that for me? That's always that was that was

Brad Baxter: 14:33

a no brainer. Yep. I think that all day long mock to mock to what color is beige color one the best but yeah, car was amazing. Yeah, that's that that's a that's a great yeah, carpet in the backs, beaker, big speakers, loud bass and FM converter. Remember what those were? Oh, yeah, those were what he would remember now. A track hit CD. Yeah,

Ian Arnold: 14:57

maybe. I still know what the stop is. But I don't know.

Rick Ripma: 15:01

I just if it makes you feel any better. My first car, the one that was handed down to me was a 74 Gremlin.

Brad Baxter: 15:09

Oh, my best friend had a gremlin purple.

Rick Ripma: 15:13

Yellow. Yeah. Yeah, that was

Brad Baxter: 15:15

fun. No, yeah, it was fun. For those that didn't know.

Rick Ripma: 15:22

And then and then my parents upgraded. And I had a pacer.

Brad Baxter: 15:29

Nice. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you were really rocking it?

Rick Ripma: 15:32

Oh, yeah. Yeah, you better have a you know, is yours worth windex is to keep the thing clean? Yeah, that was terrible. So what what are your superpower? powers or power? What would you say?

Brad Baxter: 15:48

Yeah, when we talked about this before? You know, that's kind of an interesting question. I when I think of a superhero, I think about somebody that's there for you at the time that you need them, right. They're there to protect you to, you know, make you feel safe, get you out of a bad situation. Which really makes sense for what I want to do for my clients, right? So I want them to know that I'm there. For them. Every transaction is going to have ups and downs. And so when they feel like it might not be going their way, or they need somebody on their side, I want them to know that I'm on that person. So even though I might not wear a cape when I do it. Yeah, I hope that my superpower is that I'm there for them.

Ian Arnold: 16:31

Yeah, that's awesome. You know, somebody's gonna listen to this and be like, you can be my realtor, but you must wear a cape and I

Brad Baxter: 16:37

will know me I will do

Rick Ripma: 16:42

surprise II and hasn't come in and a cape or have one here. Right. Ready to put on?

Ian Arnold: 16:46

Yeah, well, what I never reveal my secret identity.

Rick Ripma: 16:52

You don't wear glasses? Yeah, I

Ian Arnold: 16:54

do. The hair like, does. I just need a little hang down girl there at

Rick Ripma: 17:00

the black? You know, what? Didn't he wear black glasses? They weren't? Yeah, they weren't that cool. Yeah, I just think superpowers are so interesting that it's exactly what you said is why we ask it because it matters. What you do well matters. And it resonates with people, people hear what you what you do. And protecting your client is one of the best things you can I mean, that that gives you there's lots of things involved in that not just that you protect your client. Right, right. Yeah. And you said, there's always things that happen in a transaction. It's weird how it goes, some transactions have just little things go wrong.

Brad Baxter: 17:37

There's other ones you worry about. Yes. Yeah. No, if they're going to smooth

Rick Ripma: 17:41

Yeah. And then there's some that it's like, nothing can go. Right. Right. And that's when you really need somebody who has that is there to protect, but also you have a a calming demeanor. So that's, I think one of the other things, it's very vital for real estate agent, because there are things that go in, it's an emotional transaction, and they need that the client needs that they need somebody that that steady force.

Brad Baxter: 18:09

Yeah, I heard a long time ago, I don't remember what presentation I was at. But they used an analogy of a roller coaster ride. And they said, you know, your your clients are going to be on an emotional rollercoaster ride throughout the transaction, there's going to be peaks where they're extremely excited and thrilled. And then there's going to be a couple of valleys where they're freaking out and stressed a lot of anxiety. And our job is to not get on the roller coaster with them. It's right, it's to be the guy that gets them to the end of the ride safely, which is the closing. And so I have to explain that to my clients. Look, I know you're going to be emotional, high and low. And don't get frustrated. Don't think I'm not on your side, if I'm not there with you, but it's not going to do the transaction any good. If I bring my emotions into it, right. So yeah, that's one of the skill sets I've tried to do over the years, even before real estate was just to have kind of that calm in the storm that, you know, figured out the solution without getting too emotional. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 19:03

So you're in the amusement park, you just aren't on the ride.

Ian Arnold: 19:05

Exactly. Somebody has to do it on and let it go and then stop it right on. If he's turning it on.

Rick Ripma: 19:13

I don't think I don't think

Brad Baxter: 19:14

that's what his his superpower analogy was.

Rick Ripma: 19:18

is making it more stressful. guessing, but no, I just, it's just to me, I just think that's such an important thing. And I and I think it helps the entire transaction helps both sides. Because ultimately, everybody's after the same.

Brad Baxter: 19:33

Yeah, we shouldn't be right. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 19:36

And it's a team. That's the way I've always looked at your your buyer, your seller, your agents, your lender, your title company, everybody's in this together, and everybody's trying to get to the finish line as smoothly and easily as possible. Right.

Brad Baxter: 19:51

And when you mentioned that many people on a team and our transaction it comes down to communication, right? The more we communicate with each other you I just had a transaction with you and you Got a great job of every week calling me right and saying, Hey, here's the update. And not all lenders do that. And so I think that was a great piece that you add to it, because the more we communicate with each other, the better the transaction is going to be.

Rick Ripma: 20:15

Right? That is, that is the thing I found. It's amazing that if you just and I know, you guys had training and Jeremy page was telling me after the training, he goes, Rick, what they told us is, is if you don't even if there's nothing to report, if you don't tell the tell the person what's going on, in their minds, they built up something horrible happening, right? If you're not telling him, it must be bad. And so I just tried to make sure that that everybody knows everybody's comfortable. And it works. Yeah, right. It helps. It does. Yeah, yeah. And I do notice, I think one of the biggest things that we've we hear is that it's a lack of communication throughout the processes is always the problem. It can, it can be a problem. Yeah. Yeah. So

Ian Arnold: 21:00

So do you try to set the example or when you first meet with somebody about hey, look, this is gonna be more emotional roller coaster. You said? Yeah, the guidelines right, then?

Brad Baxter: 21:10

Yeah. Because then they're, they're aware of it. You know, they've heard me say it before, hey, this is no surprise that we're hitting a blip here, but we are gonna get through it. And, you know, right now, where you, you mentioned earlier people, right, these multiple offers great offers great offers, that should be accepted. Right, but they lose, they will find the right house. And that's what I give them confidence and comfort and to say, Look, I know you thought that was the one. But I guarantee you whatever one we find a new clothes on, you're going to be thrilled. And it all I mean, I can't think of an example right now or that didn't work out to be true. So they just need to know that. Right?

Rick Ripma: 21:45

I agree. There's a I've got to look it up. But I can't find it. I like country music and it was a country song. And the guy is thinking all the girls that dumped him. Because without that he wouldn't be with his wife. Right. And that's very much what we're talking about. Right? You think that's the right house? And I've counseled people for the exact same way. And to a person. When it's all over. They go You were right.

Brad Baxter: 22:10

This is so glad we didn't get that other one. This is the best one. Yeah, yeah. Well,

Ian Arnold: 22:14

what Brad actually does is Hey, good thing you didn't buy that last house. We just closed on this one. That one just got hit by a tornado. You're good.

Brad Baxter: 22:20

Right? Yeah. Good thing.

Ian Arnold: 22:23

All right. He doesn't really say that people in just full disclosure.

Brad Baxter: 22:26

I don't celebrate that.

Rick Ripma: 22:29

Any of us would celebrate that, that. That's coming up to a hurricane or hurricane? tornado season. hurricane season in August. Yes. Well, I don't know. You're from Florida. I'm from Indiana and hurricane season here is never.

Brad Baxter: 22:43

Right, right.

Ian Arnold: 22:44

We just get the thunderstorms afterwards.

Rick Ripma: 22:47

So if if somebody is looking to list their home, or maybe they're a buyer, they're looking for a real estate agent. What traits or characteristics should they look for in that agent?

Brad Baxter: 22:59

Well, you know, it's easy for me to say experience because I have it right. But I also hire new agents every year. So I have a team, I manage the the the broader pool office. And so I have about 28 agents with me now and hire about five new a year, though those that don't have the experience, what I would tell them is to say you're with a company, you're with a team, you're with a broker that does have experience. So yeah, if you don't have personally, at least look for the person that's backed up with a good team. Somebody that's going to be there. I mean, I know that sounds so simple, but you know why? How can you be successful in real estate? Well answer your phone, show up, respond to people, you know, do the activities that gets you in front of more people. And those activities could be things you love working out joining a church or you know, whatever it is that you get passionate from. Be more active in those things. It's a two fold win, right? You get to be active in something you love. But you also get to meet great people that have the same passion. And then they'll find out you're a real estate agent. They already trust you from the other thing. Yeah, right works. So don't be a secret agent. No, that's the worst thing you can do.

Rick Ripma: 24:10

It's a couple of things on that. We had a friend who worked for me that you knew him also. And he loves to play golf. He says, You know what, I just would like to play golf every day. I said go play golf every day. But you better talk to people. Because right why is it you're just gonna go broke? Yeah.

Brad Baxter: 24:28

I mean, they're with you for four or five hours. Right? You got a captured audience? Yes. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 24:32

I mean, how much better Could it be you can do what you love, and you can talk to people and that's it's about relationships. Right? Right. The other thing is mentors, you kind of hit on mentors that you have, or who were your mentors as you came through?

Brad Baxter: 24:48

Yeah, I mean, I still have mentors. I think a mentor really anyone that can guide you or help you grow and develop. The one thing I can say that I don't ever want to be comfortable with is to think that I'm I finished with my education or training or development. I mean, I think you got to work on that all the time. So, you know, this is a popular saying too, but surround yourself with people that are better than you, right? They'll make you a better version of yourself. So part of the reason I decided to merge my company seven years ago with carpenter is because of the people, right? The leadership, my management team, the agents I work with in my office, and my clients can all be mentors in different ways. If I search if I seek that, right, so even this conversation here with you guys, I mean, to meet new people to hear somebody else. You mentioned your coaching program. I mean, that's great to be inspired by how other people are living their lives. But yeah, I'm just open for that. I'm always looking to learn off to somebody else. And you have a lot of mentors, and you're a mentor for others. I hope to be

Rick Ripma: 25:51

so yeah, I mean, obviously, you are you have a how many people how many people on your team? 2828. Yeah, you're, you're a mentor for a lot of people that'll keep you busy. Yeah, yeah, it's a good busy. Yeah. But it's really nice. You have the experience and the knowledge and all of that. So we're coming up on the break. So what is the best way for someone to get a hold of you if they have any real estate needs?

Brad Baxter: 26:12

Okay, my mobile number is 317-501-3202. And my website is Brad baxter.com.

Rick Ripma: 26:19

And that's probably your name, Brad Baxter and Brad Baxter. A long time to put that together. Right. And if you need to get a hold of Ian or I it's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com or 317-672-1938. That's 317-672-1938. And

Ian Arnold: 26:37

if you're listening on the radio, catch the rest of the show, indies real estate gurus. Alright, hey, Brad, thank you for saying, Hey, you have ran out on this just yet. So thank you for that. Nope, I'm enjoying. Alright, so I do like to ask this question. What was your most memorable deal?

Brad Baxter: 26:58

Oh, gosh, I mean, that comes that could be a lot of different things, right? The the best looking house the most the easiest transaction and the worst transaction. I really, when I think of a transaction, I think of the life experience behind it, or the life. The reason behind it. So the people, I just got to help my oldest son buy his first house. And so if I think about that, was that my most memorable transaction will it will be a memory for me, because I think it's cool that, you know, he got to buy his first home, and he's doing a remodel on it. But I think if I think about the people and the and the reasons that they buy and sell, those are the best memories, right? Because you get to be part of their lives. I love it. When a client's kids you know, they find the house and the kids say, oh, which rooms is going to be Brad's. And you're like, oh, you know, I've been with them. So now, today's markets a little bit different. I used to sell I mean, show 20 houses, right and a couple of days. So we were together a long time in the car together. There's some of those things I used to love that unfortunately, we just don't do as much anymore. Now it's a quicker you know, one house at a time and they're buying pretty quick. But yeah, I love making those connections. So memory wise, it's it's the people behind it. Yes.

Rick Ripma: 28:18

Helping your your kids is a is a big deal. I've helped two of mine buy houses and it's very rewarding. Yeah, it's a it's a great and especially because of the it's not just that it's your kid I guess it is it's they look at you now as in probably a different way they've than they've ever looked at you. You're an expert. They know you're an expert. They actually listen to you, right? Do your kids listen to you know, not mine didn't either. You know, I think they do but you just don't know but it is it that's a very rewarding. Yeah. I just think that's that's an awesome thing to do today that obviously bought here in Indy.

Brad Baxter: 28:58

Yeah, I was gonna say one of the other benefits I had is he's only going to be about 10 minutes from us, which you never know, you know, if your kids are gonna move out of state or whatever. But we love the fact that he bought clothes. Yeah. Well, yeah.

Rick Ripma: 29:09

And you run the carpenter office in Broad Ripple. Right. So broad ripples seems to be a little unique as as a market compared off and on. It's it's it'll be booming and the other markets won't, you know, now, everybody, but he is, what's the market like right now in Broad Ripple?

Brad Baxter: 29:28

Oh, it's still you know, I was talking to somebody about that yesterday that even your good or bad market, it seems like Broad Ripple will always have a draw to it. Right. But, you know, there's really not a lot of other markets in town where you can buy a house that maybe it's a tear down, you know, tear down $100,000 house and on the same street, build a four or $500,000 house and it's placed just a lot of diversity in the types of houses. But it's always been a strong market. I mean, we're still obviously right now selling houses and ours. In broader Both were one of the only offices that I would say that you would consider in the middle of a residential area. So a lot of offices are going to be in a commercial building or you know, kind of a commercial area, whereas we are literally right at 61st in college, which is in the middle of abroad rubble. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 30:17

It's a it's a cool building to I mean, when you go by and I, and I've been in Indianapolis, my entire life, Broad Ripple, as long as I can remember has been hot.

Brad Baxter: 30:28

Yes, yeah.

Ian Arnold: 30:29

Well, if you actually look at the history of Robert Boyle, so when I moved down with my dad, when I was 16, we lived at Broadway, where you live in Broad Ripple. 70 person Keystone, okay. So and he was telling me the history and like, you can see old pictures and you got a broader ballpark, you'll see cement blocks that were made, and it was like a whole fairgrounds and they had Ferris wheels and all this stuff. You don't realize how popular broader pool was even about 50 to 100 years ago. Oh, yeah. Crazy.

Rick Ripma: 30:55

Yeah. It's always been. Yeah, as far as I can read. Yeah.

Brad Baxter: 30:58

And again, it changes with the times. I mean, you know, we have newer apartment buildings, taller buildings, but now doesn't to me, it hasn't taken away from the character, right. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 31:08

And it has great restaurants. Yep. Ripple has fantastic restaurant. Yeah, I agree. One of my favorite places to go and have dinner because there's always every restaurant downstairs is is great. It's good. Yeah. And yeah, I feel safe down there. I know. I hear things, but I don't I feel very safe. Well,

Brad Baxter: 31:26

at my age, you know, we're in bed by 10. So but yeah, we're doing the early dinner. Yeah, really? I tried to anyway.

Rick Ripma: 31:36

You must be younger than me. So with Broad Ripple booming, the outline areas now are you seeing are you seeing Broad Ripple being? Like, faster sales? A lot more activity?

Brad Baxter: 31:52

Is it? Yeah, again, right now. I mean, if anyone listening to this podcast is in the market to sell a home, like you said earlier, there's really still not been a better time to sell a home. We are still getting right now as of this week, right? multiple offers, appraisal waivers or appraisal Gap coverage inspection waivers. So inventory is still low, and the demand is still high from the buyers. So I would say in that sense, broad ripples no different than any other market of a house looks good. And it's priced good. There's a demand for it, that it's going to sell it really we kind of dictate that. Now, it could sell in a couple hours. But usually we'll you know, write it out a little bit to get as many offers as we can within a couple of days. But yeah, it's it's good everywhere. Yeah, that's in our office being centrally located. We do cover a lot of the Indianapolis Metro market. So we go into Hamilton County in you know, Southwest, it's where Central, right? Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 32:50

yeah. You're just like any, any your you know, the other areas, you're just happy. Yeah. And in Broad Ripple, which is seems to be like a perfect place to be. And I like where your office sits? Because, like you said it's in a residential area. Right. And it's it still looks like a residence to a point, obviously, you know, it's the main that's a freestanding building. Yeah. It doesn't, it doesn't look like you know, some of the others. Now, you. You said you have a big team, what do you look for when you're hiring a new team member?

Brad Baxter: 33:19

Yeah, I try not to be too. I don't put a box around people. Because I've seen enough people in this business. That with a variety of backgrounds. Some people think that you need a sales background, I had a sales and sales management background. But we know that people with service oriented jobs do really, really well. So teachers and service providers and firemen and you know, whatever the case, they can come in, and if they have a sphere, and they're not afraid to tell people what they do, they can be really, really successful in this business. So when I hire somebody, I don't really look at the background as much as I look and say, you know, can you set goals? Can you learn? Will you go out and talk to people and be comfortable with that? Will you have enough confidence to tell them that you can add value and that's why they should want to use you. If they will do those things and be willing to do the activities, then I have no other you know, I don't really judge that too much. Because I've seen so many people be successful with different backgrounds.

Rick Ripma: 34:20

What activities do you do have people do?

Brad Baxter: 34:22

Well, you got to talk to people.

Rick Ripma: 34:24

Really? Okay.

Brad Baxter: 34:26

So you can not be a secret agent. You have to you know, I'm not saying everybody needs to go knock on doors. But I am saying you have to if we believe that we have service like if I think that you know, you went out and bought a house and you didn't talk to me and you were a friend of mine be like Well, I wonder why they didn't think that you know, I would be protecting them through this process and look out for their best interests. The one thing I never do and I try to tell my agents is don't ever make a decision based on the dollar. Right, right. If you think that I'm in this transaction, because I need the commission To check, and I'm not saying I don't I do it for money, obviously, right? This is a career, but I don't make my decisions based on that check. I make my decisions based on your needs as my client. And so I want them to know that I want them to feel that. So if I'm looking out for their best interest, why wouldn't they want to use me? So I'm not selling them? On me. I'm selling them on the fact that I can help them, right. Yeah.

Ian Arnold: 35:25

So I know you train a lot of people. Yeah. And it's been brought to recognize attention, like at first 87% of Realtors fail in the first three years. Right. So what why it's such a huge turnover, do you think? Yeah, I

Brad Baxter: 35:40

think people, unfortunately, there's a they part of that 80%, they don't want to work. It takes you're in a straight commission career. If you don't work, nobody's handing you a paycheck every other week. And a lot of times, they revert back to that safety net too quick. So if they say, Well, I thought I would be getting a transaction sooner than this, I'll go back to getting a paycheck, even though they didn't like where they were before. They don't like the amount of their paycheck. But the fact is, somebody is giving them a paycheck every other week. So they give up too early. And but they just don't do the activities that it takes, we can train them on what to do to be successful. It doesn't mean you have to have a big sphere, it doesn't mean you have to, you know, nag all your family and friends right away to buy a house. But it means you need to go out and talk to a lot of people do open, I did two open houses every Sunday, my first year in the business.

Rick Ripma: 36:37

That seems to be a consistent way to get going. With almost every agent we've talked about is open houses are vitally important for getting going. I guess it depends on your personality, I came out of New home sales. So if I got into real estate, that's the first thing I'd have been doing, right doing as many open houses as I could,

Brad Baxter: 36:57

yeah. Why do you think new builders have model homes? Right, right. And so it's a passive way. You're not I mean, you, you can make it active by doing the steps that you know, don't just show up for the open house and, and open the door, don't just be a greeter, have a plan in place. But if I'm gonna go, if I just say, hey, Sunday afternoons is going to be part of my work day. And if nobody shows up for the open house, I'm still gonna get some work done taking it with me. But in this market, a lot of people are showing up for open houses. And so yeah, I can tell story after story of agents that met their clients at an open house and have done multiple transactions with them over the years, get out there and work. That's really all it takes.

Rick Ripma: 37:35

I know if I were doing an open house, just not really knowing. Okay, I would I'd get there definitely early. And I would go knock on all the houses around my neighbor around the house. And I would invite them to my open house, right? Because I know as a as a homeowner, everybody in the neighborhood wants to go walk through that they do, right? Okay, everybody. But we don't because we don't want to bother the real estate agent. But in actuality, that's really what they want. They want people coming in. Yeah. Because I may not be in the market. But I may know somebody who I'd like to have in my neighborhood. And it just seems to me, and I know that a lot of people, I wouldn't like go into knocking on everybody's door. But I'd figure it out. And that's what I do.

Brad Baxter: 38:22

Yeah, you know, we do train that we say go to the eight houses across the street and four on each side of it, knock on the door, saying, Hey, I'm having an open house from 12 to two on Sunday. But for neighbors, I'm going to open it up 20 minutes early, please come by. Number one, you're meeting another person that might want to sell their house, right? Yes. But you're also personally inviting them to say don't feel awkward about coming to my open house I want you to and yeah, the sometimes the seller will be like, well, we don't want the nosy neighbors coming into our house. We don't want you to do an open house because of that. I'm like, the neighbors are the ones that have invested in this area. And they want to tell people that they like to about this house that's on the market come and be my neighbor, you know. And so it's always good to market to the neighbors. Yeah, yeah. Plus,

Rick Ripma: 39:07

the neighbors can tell you, if you're the if you're a new agent, they can tell you why they love the neighborhood. Yeah, right. Right. And when you're talking to somebody you can say, Yeah, Jim and Carol Smith right down here. We're just in you know, gyms are great. I mean, it just, it just makes everything better.

Brad Baxter: 39:24

Right? Yeah, I and it's an activity that doesn't, it doesn't have to cost you any money as a new agent. And it's definitely going to open up the opportunity for you to market the open house before and meet new people. And that's what it takes to stay in this business for a long time. So a

Rick Ripma: 39:38

new agent, how do they get an open house? How would they how would they

Brad Baxter: 39:41

well in our office? So if they don't have their own listing to hold open then yeah, the first thing they would do is go to the agents within my office and say, Hey, do you have a listing that you want held open this weekend? And a lot of people get confused are like Well, somebody's already doing it on Sunday from 12 to two I'm like okay, then offered to do it from two to four. Hey are wondering, you know, do it a different time the same day, it doesn't matter. You know, it can be held open all day, especially if it's a vacant house. I mean, and now we've seen a lot on Saturdays as well. But yeah, we have a big enough company with 600 agents that if there's none in my office, then it's okay. Well then go to one of the other offices will send an email saying, Hey, I'm available to do an open house for you. Now, for me as the managing broker, I'm always going to open up my listings to our newer agents and say, Hey, if you need one, I got one for you. And then

Rick Ripma: 40:28

what's the benefit to the homeowner to having an open house?

Brad Baxter: 40:32

Well, we never know where their buyers gonna come from. Right? So if if they've been told in the past, Hey, open houses don't work. That's what I've been told by other agents. I'm like, they probably told you that because they don't want to do an open house, right? Or they don't have the staff to do an open house. But if if you're my seller, and I say, Okay, I'm here, I will do an open house for you. And I'll market it, it'd be on my website, I'll do a postcard mailing, I'll do door knocking whatever it is. So I'm going to market your home. And if I happen to find the right buyer with great terms, by doing that, are you okay with that? Okay, you're shaking your head? Yeah, of course, you would be right. I'm the one doing all the work. And I'm holding an open. Now, I don't know where the right buyers gonna come from. But it could I've sold houses to people in an open house before that would not have looked on it based on the criteria. Right, follow me like it was too expensive, or didn't have a bedroom on the main or whatever it was, they come to the open house, they fall in love with it. And they say, Well, I would never would have looked at this. But you had a sign on the yard and it was open. So I stopped by because we

Rick Ripma: 41:29

have our criteria. Yeah. But many times we don't follow our own criteria when we're buying some

Brad Baxter: 41:35

writing. Well, people in the in this business agents get upset with buyers that change their mind. They you know, when I started the business, people said, oh, buyers are liars. I'm like, No, they're not. They're buyers that just after looking at a few homes changed their mind. Right? That's okay, they can do that. And you just have to have to have the patience to work through and understand. You know, they have the ability to change their mind. And with inventory being low. Of course, they're they're changing their mind based on what's available to look at.

Ian Arnold: 42:03

Yeah, I mean, Rick, and I came from car sales prior. And it's really interesting is we have the same slogan, buyers are liars. But again, it's one of those things you get, and you can be like, Oh, this is I want this Jeep that will, then you get in and you go for a ride. And you're like, man, well, Robert, I thought my baton that will hurt. And well guess what? All right. Now let's switch to a car is a little bit more luxury. So sometimes you just don't know what you want. Or you have a different perception. Yeah. And you walk into walk into that house. And that backyard is like half the size you thought it was going to be?

Brad Baxter: 42:35

Yeah. And that's what I try to tell my buyers all the time, because they they're always worried they're gonna bother me, right? Oh, I know. You're busy. I don't want to bother you. I'm like, This is what I do seven days a week. And I love what I do. So if you if you want me to go show you a house and it's not the right house for you. That's one step closer to us knowing what is right for you. So don't ever feel like you're bothering me. I want to show you houses because that helps you in the process. Yeah, yeah. So what are you

Rick Ripma: 43:00

looking most forward to in the future, like, through the rest of the year, maybe next year.

Brad Baxter: 43:06

I'm looking forward to my kids growing up and seeing what they do with their lives, and maybe one day having some grandbabies and stuff. So when I think about the future, I guess I'm getting older, I used to joke and say my retirement party and my funeral will be the same party. Right? I thought I would work until I die. Now that I'm a little bit older, I'm like, Wow, maybe I'll give myself some time in the end, to enjoy life. So I don't know. But I'm to continue to be flexible enough to adapt with markets, whatever they do, to continue to serve people in the best way possible, not only in real estate, but just serve people in general, I love to serve. And, again, my family to watch them grow and take advantage of all the experiences that they're going to have. Your grandkids

Ian Arnold: 43:47

will need houses.

Brad Baxter: 43:48

So I know it's just reading guides. If I don't have anyone calling me from this podcast, I'm just gonna create my own stream.

Rick Ripma: 43:58

You know, I it's funny. I feel exactly the same way. It is so exciting. It's always exciting. But as your kids get older, just because their whole lives start to blossom. And it's I love I love watching that happen. And it's it's it is very exciting. I also am one who I do not plan on retiring. And you know, what I found is it's people like us who love what we do. We have no reason to retire people who hate what they do. I know I have friends who have retired because they hated what they write. Well, of course they retired. I didn't want to do it anymore. But I love what I do you love what you do. So it's harder.

Brad Baxter: 44:37

It is I mean, I feel blessed in that respect that I don't really sit there and think of my days as to oh gosh, I just can't wait to be done with this. Yeah, no, I never really think that yeah,

Rick Ripma: 44:45

yeah. And you've done it for a long time. You're very good at it. You know what you're doing, you you you know, it's it's a blessing for a client to work with somebody like you or to work with you because you really truly care about them. Well over your commission. Yeah. And I'm guessing that that's your whole team is that way because the leader sets the pace for the team? And

Brad Baxter: 45:07

yeah, I have a really good team that a lot of tenured agents that, yeah, really take good care of their clients. But yeah, I mean, even though I say don't do it for the dollar, don't make a decision for the dollar. If you do all those things you love and you take care of people, it's a byproduct of that, and you're gonna get paid well for doing it. Because you're gonna have a lot of people that want to work with you, right? Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 45:27

Yeah, I don't. That's everybody knows. But that's not your driving factor. Right? Your driving factor is you're taking care of you get your you get the thrill, by working with the client and taking care of them and helping them get what they want. The money comes right, and if you but if but there are people who only worry about the money, and then it's a disaster, they're

Brad Baxter: 45:48

part of the 80% that don't make it. Yeah. And I think

Rick Ripma: 45:51

it's one of the things I really want to promote on this show is the real estate agents in our community are phenomenal people like yourself, who care about the care about their clients, but you have a service mentality, you have what they call that a servant mentality, you, you will do things and you will serve. That's what you do. And that's what's important to you. And I think people need to know because I think it's kind of I hate even to say it like a politician because but a politic nobody, nobody likes anybody else's politician, but they all love their own right. And you talk to somebody they all love, all but they love their real estate agent, but then they have a bad idea of what real estate agents. And it's wrong here. Our agents, the vast majority of them are phenomenal people who should be respected and, and have a tremendous amount of value they can give to

Brad Baxter: 46:45

us and we need to respect each other, right? I mean, so if somebody sees Brad Baxter on the listing sheet when they're showing their buyer a house, I want them to say, Oh, good, it's Brad's listing, I work with him. It's been good in the past, this would be a good transaction, not saying that the transaction won't have some bumps or hiccups. But we'll get through it in a professional manner. Right. And so yeah, I mean, I think we gotta be Yeah, we're cooperating brokers, meaning we work together to accomplish the same goal.

Rick Ripma: 47:14

Well, how would somebody get a hold of you? If they have any real estate needs? Brad,

Brad Baxter: 47:17

they would call me at 317-501-3202

Rick Ripma: 47:22

or it's Brad baxter.com baxter.com. Even I can remember that Baxter dots. That is easy. I would do Rick ripma.com. And actually, I have it but nobody can spell Ripma

Brad Baxter: 47:35

Okay, that's a problem.

Rick Ripma: 47:36

It was hard work and mortgage guy, and nobody has a mortgage is a problem. And if you need to get hold of Ian and I, it's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com or 317-672-1938. That's 317-672-1938. And please follow us

Ian Arnold: 47:56

on in these real estate gurus or you can subscribe and get notifications as soon as we put a new show and everything on there. Also, if you know any friends, family or coworkers looking to buy, sell or refinance, contact us HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com We'll be more than happy to help

Rick Ripma: 48:11

you. Thanks so much for joining us have a great day. Wrench and Melissa number three number four. Number six on the less than or equal housing opportunity zones participant